Martin Logans

Does any body own or have experince with the modern Martin Logan hybrid ESL range.

In particular the Aeon i.

 

i've heard one step higher model in 3 ocasions.

every time they sounded totally different and it i've been told that this is because of setup.

although it sounded good indeed i didn't get WOW impression.

i didn;t expirienced extrimely narrow sweet spot.

 

Don't like Martin Logans myself - I find that they have trouble integrating the frequency ranges properly. Kind of like, 'Here's the treble, and now here's the mid, and now here's.....some of the bass". Heard them with valve and transistor, analogue and digital, and my conclusions were the same each time.

 

The quads are far better inho and they have a passable stab at dynamics too

 

I've never heard that particular model, but I've had a bit of experience of both the SL3 and Aerius I. The thing that surprised me about both is despite the huge panel they are not that different from a standard two way speaker – try bi-wiring them and disconnecting the top cable, a surprising amount of info is handled by the bass speaker. I would certainly not look at them as a panel speaker with built in sub, more a two way with a large fancy tweeter and the bass-mid driver on the floor.

I never felt they integrated properly, once you zone in on where the crossover is it is very easy to hear the panel (very nice) and moving coil bass driver (not too nice). I love panel speakers, but I have yet to hear a hybrid that I really feel works, and these are no exception. I far, far, far prefer Quads, though I'd love to hear the full range Logan (CL2Z IIRC).

Tony.

 

Twaddle!

If you've heard Prodegies on the end of big monoblocks you would understand just how dynamic Logans can be. The main issue is you need huge power to get them to really sing in tune from top to bottom and even then, you do not get that sense of propulsion that a big cone based speaker will give you.

I owned the Ascents for some time. They needed to be biamped really, but what they did well, they did superbly. Recently listened to the Ascent i and I guess I have developed different tastes over the intervening period. I still have a soft spot for them, whereas Quads like the 989 have never really worked for me.

The problem with th smaller Logans like the Aeons and Clarity is that due to the physical size of the panel (the width), they crossover to the cone higher up in the frequency range. This does lead to some discontinuity on things like male vocals, but they can still hold you spellbound with the right material IMO.

Anyway, the only thing to do, as with any loudspeaker, is to listen for yourself.

 

CLS II